The Deep Composition of Uranus and Neptune from In Situ Exploration and Thermochemical Modeling
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The Deep Composition of Uranus and Neptune from In Situ Exploration and Thermochemical Modeling Thibault Cavalié1,2 · Olivia Venot3 · Yamila Miguel4 · Leigh N. Fletcher5 · Peter Wurz6 · Olivier Mousis7 · Roda Bounaceur8 · Vincent Hue9 · Jérémy Leconte1 · Michel Dobrijevic1
Received: 14 October 2019 / Accepted: 20 April 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The distant ice giants of the Solar System, Uranus and Neptune, have only been visited by one space mission, Voyager 2. The current knowledge on their composition remains very limited despite some recent advances. A better characterization of their composition is however essential to constrain their formation and evolution, as a significant fraction of their mass is made of heavy elements, contrary to the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. An in situ probe like Galileo would provide us with invaluable direct ground-truth composition measurements. However, some of the condensibles will remain out of the grasp of a shallow probe. While additional constraints could be obtained from a complementary orbiter, thermochemistry and diffusion modeling can further help us to increase the science return of an in situ probe. Keywords Uranus · Neptune · Ice giants · Thermochemistry · Formation · Evolution In Situ Exploration of the Ice Giants: Science and Technology Edited by Olivier J. Mousis and David H. Atkinson
B T. Cavalié
[email protected]
1
Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
2
LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University,CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 92195 Meudon, France
3
Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA), UMR CNRS 7583, Université Paris-Est-Créteil, Université de Paris, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Créteil, France
4
Leiden Observatory, University of Leiden, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333CA Leiden, The Netherlands
5
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
6
Physikalisches Institut, Space Science and Planetology, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland
7
Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
8
Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés, LRGP UMP 7274 CNRS, Université de Lorraine, 1 rue Grandville, BP 20401, 54001 Nancy, France
9
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
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1 Introduction In the early days of planetary sciences and space exploration, Uranus and Neptune seemed to be very much alike. They share relatively similar masses, radii and color, for example, suggesting these planets could be twins from their formation to their current state. However, even if these distant planets have only been visited once by a spacecraft, data acquired during the Voyager 2 flybys and more recently from ground-based and space-based facilities demonstrate that they are quite different. Their density differ by as much as 30%, Uranus is almost in equi
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